Health is defined as the state of being free from illness and injury.  Modern medical education is primarily focused on treating illness and injury with prescription drugs and/or surgery.

Twenty-five years ago, I decided to write this book when it became clear to me that there is widespread confusion when it comes to our understanding and relationship to modern medicine, more importantly, how it relates to our health.  Oftentimes, I refer to medical school as more of a “medical monastery” than a citadel of health.

This concept is driven by the statement made in d1976, in my freshman class in medical school, by a department head who asserted that in essence, we were knocking off five-years of our life expectancy simply by attending medical school. If that statement is true, then the only way to explain this reality is the fact that medical doctors are trained to be experts in prescribing drugs and performing surgery; yet do not learn very much about the aspects of being truly healthy.

Many years of my life after graduating from medical school consisted of studying, apprenticing, extensive traveling and yes, sleeping the living room sofas of renowned experts in complementary, integrative, and alternative medicine in an effort to learn as much as I could about “real medicine” and how to keep my patients not only alive, but healthy and thriving.

It is my firm belief that following the ideas, concepts and practices delineated in this book will help you add more quality time and longevity to your life.

Enjoy!